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GREENBURGH, N.Y. Town officials are close to finalizing the draft of an agreement with a Tarrytown developer hoping to bring a sports facility to Greenburgh.
Supervisor Paul Feiner said Thursday he expects the proposed 15-year lease with Game On 365 will be handed over to the town board this week and the council could vote on the agreement as soon as June.
If approved, the deal would bring a sports bubble, dubbed the Westchester Field House, with a clubhouse and indoor soccer field to the abandoned lot at 715 Dobbs Ferry Road.
I just see so many positives with having more recreation, especially if theres no cost to the taxpayers, Feiner said Wednesday during a town board meeting.
Game Ons plan for an outdoor soccer field and 15,000-square-foot clubhouse attached to a 94,000-square-foot dome housing four turf playing fields and two hard court surfaces has become the towns preferred option to occupy the abandoned lot.
The sports facility would pay an estimated $260,000 in annual rent to occupy the nearly seven-acre area left vacant after Franks Nursery went bankrupt and the town foreclosed on the property last year. Both sides said any lease agreement would be contingent on an environmental review and traffic study.
Last week Game On representatives were in Greenburgh, answering questions and concerns raised by community members and an anonymous letter criticizing the project.
On Wednesday, several town residents appeared before the board expressing their support for the facility. Jose Nunez said he didnt see a negative side to the plan.
It turns an eyesore into a bright eyespot, he said. To me its straightforward. Everyone wins here.
Greenburgh soccer mom Stefanie Zednik said Game On would be a huge asset to the area.
The site is perfect. Its easily accessible, she said. I suggest we push forward because I think its a great project.
Critics, however, continue to raise concerns about the details of the projects agreement. They have questioned the legitimacy of the RFP process and pointed to the residential zoning of the site as well as the lack of a traffic study or recent appraisal of the lands value.
These are not things that should be decided because someone wants a soccer field for their kid, town resident Hal Samis said Thursday.
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